How was Fra Filippo Lippi said to have gained freedom from captivity?

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Fra Filippo Lippi: Madonna and Child — Fra Filippo Lippi *Madonna and Child*, tempera on poplar panel by Fra Filippo Lippi, c. 1440; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 79 × 51.1 cm.

According to the Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari, who provided a lively and fanciful account of the artist's life, Fra Filippo Lippi was abducted by pirates while on the Adriatic and held in slavery for 18 months. He was said to have gained his freedom after painting a portrait of his enslaver.1